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American figure skater From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Isabeau Levito (born March 3, 2007) is an American figure skater. She is the 2024 World silver medalist, 2022–23 Grand Prix Final silver medalist, the 2023 Grand Prix de France champion, a three-time ISU Grand Prix silver medalist (2022 and 2023 Skate America; 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy), the 2024 Skate America bronze medalist, a four-time ISU Challenger Series medalist (two gold, one silver, one bronze), the 2023 U.S. national champion, and a two-time U.S. National bronze medalist (2022, 2024). At the junior level, Levito is the 2022 World Junior champion, the 2021 JGP France II champion, the 2021 JGP Austria silver medalist, and the 2021 U.S. junior national champion.
| Isabeau Levito | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Levito performing a Kerrigan spiral at the 2024 World Championships | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | March 3, 2007 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hometown | Mount Holly, New Jersey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Figure skating career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Women's singles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coach | Julia Kuznetsova Otar Japaridze Slava Kuznetsov Zhanna Palagina Angelina Japaridze | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Skating club | Skating Club of Southern New Jersey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Began skating | 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medal record | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Levito's second place finish at the 2024 World Championships in Montreal marked the first medal for a U.S. woman at the World Championships since Alysa Liu in 2022 and the highest finish since Ashley Wagner in 2016.
Levito was born on March 3, 2007, in Philadelphia, and currently resides in Mount Holly, New Jersey.[1] Her mother, Maria Chiara Garberi Levito, is a clinical embryologist who immigrated to the United States from Italy in 1997. Levito is named after Michelle Pfeiffer's character, Isabeau d'Anjou, in the film Ladyhawke. She speaks English, Italian, and some Russian. Levito's father, Tim Levito, passed away on May 5, 2019. As of 2022, Levito has been schooling through the International Virtual Learning Academy since fourth grade.[2]
Levito cites skaters Alena Kostornaia, Evgenia Medvedeva, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, and Kaori Sakamoto as being her skating inspirations and role models.[3][4]
In her spare time, Isabeau loves to read books.[5]
Levito began learning how to skate in 2010 at the age of three in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. Her mother, a figure skating fan, initially put her in learn-to-skate classes to improve her balance.[6] Levito began taking private lessons with her current coach Yulia Kuznetsova (née Myskina), a former pair skater, at age three. She competed at her first U.S. Figure Skating Championships at the juvenile level in 2018 taking the title; she later won the silver medal in the intermediate category in 2019, the junior silver medal in 2020, and the junior national title in 2021.
Levito made her junior international debut at the 2021 JGP France II, the second of two Junior Grand Prix events held in Courchevel, in August. She won both segments of the competition to take the title ahead of South Korean skater Kim Chae-yeon and Canadian competitor Kaiya Ruiter.[7] At her second event in October which was the 2021 JGP Austria, Levito took the silver medal; Russian skaters Sofia Muravieva placed first and Anastasia Zinina was third.[8] With her win in France, Levito qualified as the fifth-seeded skater to the junior women's event at the 2021–22 Junior Grand Prix Final in Osaka, Japan under the qualification rules established for the 2021–22 season, however she withdrew from the event in November due to injury.[9] The Final was later canceled due to concerns related to the Omicron variant.[10]
After recovering from an unspecified lower-body injury, Levito competed at her first senior level U.S. Championships in January. She placed fourth in the short program and narrowly advanced to second in the free skate to take the bronze medal overall, behind Mariah Bell and Karen Chen. Due to her age, she was ineligible to be named to the American Olympic team.[11]
Levito was supposed to finish her season at the 2022 World Junior Championships, the International Skating Union banned all Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing at the ISU championships.[12] The Russian women had dominated the women's discipline in recent years; their absence made Levito a medal favorite at Junior Worlds.[13] However, due to both the invasion and concerns related to the Omicron variant, the World Junior Championships was not held in Sofia in early March; they were moved to Tallinn, Estonia in mid-April.[14] At Junior Worlds, Levito won the short program, introducing a Lutz-loop combination into competition, with a score of 72.50, 3.12 points ahead of Shin Ji-a of South Korea.[15] She finished second in the free skate, behind Shin, but remained in first overall by 0.54 points and took the gold medal. She was the first American woman to win the World Junior Championships since Rachael Flatt in 2008.[16]
Entering the new quadrennial, Levito said that she was looking ahead to the 2026 Winter Olympics noting, "my mom is from Milano." Though she initially said that she was unsure whether she would compete as a junior or senior, she eventually moved up to the senior level.[17] Levito opened her debut senior season at the Philadelphia Summer International. She placed first in both segments of the competition to win the competition with a score of 207.67, four points ahead of second-place finisher Lindsay Thorngren.[18] In her first appearance on the Challenger circuit, she won the gold medal at the 2022 CS Nepela Memorial.[19]
Levito was invited to make her senior Grand Prix debut at the 2022 Skate America. She finished second, behind reigning world champion Kaori Sakamoto. Levito afterward said she was glad to perform in her first Grand Prix "in front of a home crowd in America."[20] At her next competition which was the 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy, Levito placed second in both segments of the competition, including a personal best free skate, to take the silver medal behind Japan's Mai Mihara. These results qualified her for the 2022–23 Grand Prix Final.[21][22] She was the youngest American to qualify for the Final since Caroline Zhang in 2007.[23]
Competing in the final in Turin, Levito finished fifth in the short program after an edge call on her triple Lutz and the triple toe loop in her jump combination being deemed a quarter underrotated.[24][25] The free skate segment of the competition was deemed "turbulent", with several higher-ranked skaters struggling.[26] Levito stepped out of her opening jump combination and fell on her triple flip; she was visibly unhappy with her performance at the conclusion, but it proved sufficient to place second in the segment elevating her to second overall. Her silver medal in the final was the first medal for an American woman in the event since Ashley Wagner in 2014.[27] She said afterward that "when I was done with my program I didn't expect to be in the placement I am now, and I am still not realizing it yet. It's so amazing, and I'm so proud."[26]
Levito entered the 2023 U.S. Championships as the heavy favourite for the gold medal, and won the short program by a 0.02-point margin over former champion Bradie Tennell, who was making a gradual return from injury.[28] She won the free skate by a wider margin of 10.19 points over Tennell, winning her first national title.[29]
Heading into a Four Continents Championships held on home soil in Colorado Springs, Levito was considered one of the favourites for the gold medal.[30] She finished second in the short program, 1.34 points behind South Korean Kim Ye-lim, winning a silver small medal. She said that "for the most part, I am satisfied" with the performance.[31] Levito withdrew just before the warmup for the free skate on the following day, citing illness.[32]
A month later, Levito was ready to compete at the 2023 World Championships, and received a new personal best score in the short program, despite the second part of her jump combination being judged a quarter underrotated. She placed fourth in the segment, 0.43 points back of Mihara in third place. In the free skate, Levito fell on her opening triple Lutz, otherwise skating cleanly. She was fifth in that segment, but remained in fourth place overall, and finished less than three points behind Belgian bronze medalist Loena Hendrickx.[33] Levito said she was "severely disappointed" by her mistake, but said that overall she felt she had "a great experience in the senior level" during the season.[34]
Levito had initially planned for her season to be over following the World Championships, being described as "really exhausted after the year." However, she was persuaded to join Team USA for the 2023 World Team Trophy by team captain Jason Brown.[35] She placed third in the short program after underrotating the second part of her jump combination.[36] She underrotated one triple jump in the free skate, but placed fourth in the segment. Assessing her own performance, Levito opined "I think I could have done slightly better here and there, but I have done worse, so I am pretty happy."[37] Team USA won the gold medal.[35]
Beginning the season at the 2023 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, Levito won the gold medal.[38] She was invited to participate in the Japan Open as part of Team North America, and finished third in the women's competition, while the team finished second overall.[39]
Levito began the Grand Prix at the 2023 Skate America, where she finished narrowly third in the segment, 1.38 points behind second-place Amber Glenn.[40] In the free skate she was second, and rose to second place overall, winning her second consecutive silver medal at Skate America. She professed to be "a little disappointed" with some aspects of the performance, saying "my programs have a lot more potential this season."[41] She won the short program at the 2023 Grand Prix de France, her second event, by a margin of 5.10 points over second-place Anastasiia Gubanova. She faltered in the free skate, with two difficult jump landings and a fall out of her closing spin, as a result placing third in that segment, but her short program lead was enough to keep her in first place over Belgium's Nina Pinzarrone. She won her first Grand Prix gold medal, and said that she was "proud I was able to improve result-wise from the last Grand Prix season."[42] This was the first Grand Prix victory for an American woman since Ashley Wagner in 2016, and Levito was the youngest American woman to win a Grand Prix since Sarah Hughes in 2001.[43][44] As the 2023–24 Grand Prix Final approached, Levito described herself as "a little bit sick," though claiming after a last-place short program with errors on all of her jumping passes that "in general nothing is really wrong." She rallied in the free skate, coming third in that segment, and rising to fifth overall.[45]
Following the disappointment at the Grand Prix Final, Levito and her coaches opted to create a new short program, set to "Nella Fantasia", later explaining that she had been disappointed with how her first snake-themed program had developed. Entering the 2024 U.S. Figure Skating Championships as a title favorite, she won the short program with a mostly successful skate, but for a loss of balance in her final spin that cost her a level on the element.[46] The free skate proved difficult, with Levito falling three times. She came fourth in that segment, and dropped to the bronze medal position overall, behind Amber Glenn and Josephine Lee.[47] She described the evening as feeling "like a fever dream."[46] She had previously not been assigned to the Four Continents Championships.[48]
Two months later, at the 2024 World Championships in Montreal, Levito finished second in the short program with a personal best score of 73.73 points. She said that she was "satisfied" with the performance.[49] With a strong performance in the free skate, she came second in that segment as well, and won the silver medal. This was her first World medal, and the first World silver for an American woman since Ashley Wagner in 2016. Levito described herself as "content with this way to end the season," saying "I feel like I had a very rough season, and I was so disappointed in myself for a lot of the season. I was so confused with how I was skating, but I'm proud of myself and my team of coaches, with all the consistent training and hard training we've been doing."[50]
Levito started the season by competing on the 2024–25 ISU Challenger Series. She won the bronze medal at the 2024 CS Cranberry Cup International behind fellow Americans, Sarah Everhardt and Elyce Lin-Gracey. Following that competition, Levito decided to scrap her "Swan Lake" short program and had a new short program created to the music of "Moon River." At the 2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, she placed fifth in the short program but second in the free skate, moving up to second-place overall behind Elyce Lin-Gracey.[51][52][53][54]
Going on to compete on the 2024–25 Grand Prix series, Levito competed at 2024 Skate America. While she won the event's short program, she placed fifth in the free skate after under rotating two jumps which included a fall. Despite this, Levito finished on the podium, winning the bronze medal. Following the competition, Levito expressed satisfaction, saying, "I think I could have done better today, but I am glad for the elements that worked out and I am happy I am on the podium."[55] Although Levito was also assigned to compete at the 2024 Finlandia Trophy, she withdrew two weeks before the event was set to take place.[56]
| Season | Short program | Free skate program | Exhibition program |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019–20 [59] |
|
|
— |
| 2020–21 [59] |
|
|
— |
| 2021–22 [60] |
"The Swan"
|
"Russian Dance"
|
— |
| 2022–23 [61] |
"Una noche más"
|
|
"The Swan"
|
| 2023–24 [62][63] |
"Yearning"
|
"Nureyev"
|
"Salvatore"
|
"Love"
| |||
| |||
|
— | — | |
| 2024–25 [53][54] |
|
|
|
|
— | — | |
| Season | 2021–22 | 2022–23 | 2023–24 | 2024–25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Championships | 4th | 2nd | ||
| Four Continents Championships | WD | |||
| Grand Prix Final | 2nd | 5th | ||
| U.S. Championships | 3rd | 1st | 3rd | |
| World Team Trophy | 1st (3rd) |
|||
| GP France | 1st | |||
| GP Skate America | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | |
| GP Wilson Trophy | 2nd | |||
| CS Cranberry Cup | 3rd | |||
| CS Nebelhorn Trophy | 1st | 2nd | ||
| CS Nepela Memorial | 1st | |||
| Japan Open | 2nd (3rd) |
|||
| Philadelphia Summer | 1st |
| Season | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | 2021–22 |
|---|---|---|---|
| World Junior Championships | 1st | ||
| U.S. Championships | 2nd | 1st | |
| JGP Austria | 2nd | ||
| JGP France | 1st |
| Segment | Type | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | TSS | 215.74 | 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy |
| Short program | TSS | 73.73 | 2024 World Championships |
| TES | 41.33 | 2022 World Junior Championships | |
| PCS | 34.87 | 2024 World Championships | |
| Free skating | TSS | 143.68 | 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy |
| TES | 74.18 | 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy | |
| PCS | 70.39 | 2024 World Championships | |
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
| Jan 2–9, 2022 |  2022 U.S. Championships |
4 | 71.00 | 2 | 139.75 | 3 | 210.75 |
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
| Aug 4–7, 2022 | 2022 Philadelphia Summer International |
1 | 70.72 | 1 | 136.95 | 1 | 207.67 |
| Sep 29–Oct 1, 2022 |  2022 CS Nepela Memorial |
1 | 65.37 | 1 | 133.62 | 1 | 198.99 |
| Oct 21–23, 2022 | 2022 Skate America |
2 | 71.30 | 2 | 135.36 | 2 | 206.66 |
| Nov 3–5, 2022 |  2022 MK John Wilson Trophy |
2 | 72.06 | 2 | 143.68 | 2 | 215.74 |
| Dec 8–11, 2022 |  2022–23 Grand Prix Final |
5 | 69.26 | 2 | 127.97 | 2 | 197.23 |
| Jan 26–28, 2023 | 2023 U.S. Championships |
1 | 73.78 | 1 | 149.55 | 1 | 223.33 |
| Feb 7–12, 2023 | 2023 Four Continents Championships |
2 | 71.50 | – | – | – | WD |
| Mar 20–26, 2023 |  2023 World Championships |
4 | 73.03 | 5 | 134.62 | 4 | 207.65 |
| Apr 13–16, 2023 | 2023 World Team Trophy |
3 | 71.22 | 4 | 142.65 | 1 (3) | 213.87 |
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
| Sep 20–23, 2023 |  2023 CS Nebelhorn Trophy |
1 | 69.30 | 2 | 129.49 | 1 | 198.79 |
| Oct 7, 2023 | 2023 Japan Open |
– | – | 3 | 135.63 | 2 | – |
| Oct 20–22, 2023 | 2023 Skate America |
3 | 70.07 | 2 | 138.08 | 2 | 208.15 |
| Nov 3–5, 2023 |  2023 Grand Prix de France |
1 | 71.83 | 3 | 131.39 | 1 | 203.22 |
| Dec 7–10, 2023 |  2023–24 Grand Prix Final |
6 | 56.53 | 3 | 135.33 | 5 | 191.86 |
| Jan 22–28, 2024 | 2024 U.S. Championships |
1 | 75.38 | 4 | 125.30 | 3 | 200.68 |
| Mar 18–24, 2024 |  2024 World Championships |
2 | 73.73 | 2 | 138.43 | 2 | 212.16 |
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
| Aug 8–11, 2024 | 2024 CS Cranberry Cup International |
2 | 65.08 | 2 | 128.73 | 3 | 193.81 |
| Sep 18–21, 2024 | 2024 Nebelhorn Trophy |
5 | 61.30 | 2 | 136.83 | 2 | 198.13 |
| Oct 18–20, 2024 | 2024 Skate America |
1 | 68.43 | 5 | 126.40 | 3 | 194.83 |
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
| Jan 20–26, 2020 | 2020 U.S. Championships (Junior) |
3 | 59.18 | 2 | 120.29 | 2 | 179.47 |
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
| Jan 9–20, 2021 | 2021 U.S. Championships (Junior) |
1 | 65.66 | 1 | 121.82 | 1 | 187.48 |
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
| Aug 25–28, 2021 | 2021 JGP France II |
1 | 71.25 | 1 | 131.10 | 1 | 202.35 |
| Oct 7–9, 2021 |  2021 JGP Austria |
2 | 71.32 | 2 | 136.99 | 2 | 208.31 |
| Apr 13–17, 2022 |  2022 World Junior Championships |
1 | 72.50 | 2 | 134.05 | 1 | 206.55 |
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